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by lemonberry 507 days ago
"It feels like similar things happen in other govt buildings in the USA all the time but the perpetrators were not targeted the same way."

Huh? American here. Can you point to any examples? I can't think of a single one.

3 comments

People break into state chambers all the time to disrupt votes. It’s happened in Texas a few times in the last 5 years or so.
That many in Texas? Can you link to a couple?

I'm not seeing much in a quick search... unless you mean people who arrive normally and then are removed for heckling, which is totally different.

"A few times in the last 5 years or so" != "all the time".
With protest signs. Not weapons and restraints. And gallows outside.
What? When? Where?
Remember May 31, 2020?

"Secret Service agents rushed President Donald Trump to a White House bunker on Friday night as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the executive mansion, some of them throwing rocks and tugging at police barricades.

"Trump spent nearly an hour in the bunker, which was designed for use in emergencies like terrorist attacks, according to a Republican close to the White House who was not authorized to publicly discuss private matters and spoke on condition of anonymity. The account was confirmed by an administration official who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

"The abrupt decision by the agents underscored the rattled mood inside the White House, where the chants from protesters in Lafayette Park could be heard all weekend and Secret Service agents and law enforcement officers struggled to contain the crowds."

As near as I can find, some 6 people were arrested for this violent protest by the Secret Service, and some 16 by DC police. Is is vanishingly difficult to find if anyone was subsequently charged and convicted for this event, which was without parallel, at least in my lifetime. This followed the events of May 30, 2020, when the Church of St. John's Episcopal In Lafayette Square, across from the White House, was sent on fire. To date it seems that no one has been arrested or charged for this destruction.

https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ap-top-news-george-f...

So they didn't even attempt to enter the building and they certainly didn't attempt to overthrow election results? I just cant see how you think these are the same category of event with respect to political impact.
They burned the church and tried to break into the White House forcing an evacuation of the president! The 1/6 riot, by contrast, was by turns both violent and civil, but no one was armed and attempting "to overthrow the election results". In fact the Trump plan of continuous debate over the merits of the election was thwarted by the riot. It was diametrically opposed to his interests and ended up favoring the Democrats. Many questions still linger over the identities of major participants, including the "pipe bomber" and the "scaffold commander", whom the FBI unaccountably never identified. Note that the 1/6 participants were relentlessly tracked by the state for years by some 6000 FBI agents and tried in DC courts, unlike the 2020 rioters aiming to storm the White House.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Hill_Occupied_Protes...

This one wasn’t restricted to just a govt building, although it did start with the takeover of a police building. Kids were shot and killed. But the rioters were initially aligned with BLM so there was a lot of sympathy from the government and media. Barely anyone was investigated or punished, in contrast to Jan 6th.

They didn't take over the police building. They protested outside it, and the police boarded it up and voluntarily vacated it.

This was basically a very long street protest, which is fundamentally different from taking over the US legislative buildings by force.

No children were shot. A 19-year old named Horace Lorenzo Anderson Jr was shot and killed. His killer, an 18-year-old mentally disabled person with a history of conflict with Anderson, was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

No matter your ideology, I'm not sure how you can believe this is the same category of thing.

The link I posted has a crime section. There were 5 separate shootings. A 16 year old boy was shot and killed and a 14 year old was shot and in critical condition. From a loss of life due to violence perspective, CHOP/CHAZ was worse.
> From a loss of life due to violence perspective, CHOP/CHAZ was worse.

But from a potential to overthrow the government perspective, Jan 6 was worse. The entire Senate and the Vice President were in that building. The stated goal of the mob was to stop the transfer of power ("stop the steal"). They chanted their methods, which included hanging the Vice President and Speaker of the House, 1st and 2nd in line of succession. They brought a gallows. That's why it was an insurrection and not just a protest.

> There were 5 separate shootings.

Most of the shootings had no known relation to the protests except police broadcast they had abandoned the neighborhood. It was predicted this would lead to violence. Protesters did not ask for this.

The 1st shooting was outside the protest area. The killer and victim had a history of conflict.

The 2nd shooting was outside the protest area. The victim said he was attacked by white supremacists.

The location of the 3rd shooting was unclear. The victim refused to talk to police.

The 4th shooting was outside the protest area. The victim refused to talk to police.

The 5th shooting did involve protesters. The 2 boys drove through the occupied park and at a group of protesters. Protesters working as security guards shot at the vehicle in defense.